Peevish Definition

pēvĭsh
adjective
Querulous or discontented.
American Heritage
Hard to please; irritable; fretful; cross.
Webster's New World
Showing ill humor or impatience, as a glance or remark.
Webster's New World
Ill-tempered.
American Heritage
Contrary; fractious.
American Heritage
Synonyms:
Antonyms:

Origin of Peevish

  • From Middle English pevische, pevisse, pevysse, peivesshe, also peyuesshe, peeuish, of obscure origin. Perhaps from Middle English pew, pue (“a plaintive cry, the cry of a bird"), equivalent to pue +"Ž -ish. Cognate with Scots pevis, pevess, pevych, pevach (“peevish"), Scots pew, peu (“to cry in a plaintive manner"). See pue

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English pevish possibly from Latin perversus turned the wrong way, perverse past participle of pervertere to turn around, corrupt pervert

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Alternative etymology derives Middle English peyvesshe "capricious, silly", as a possible corruption of Latin perversus "perverted". The meaning "fretful" develops in the 16th century.

    From Wiktionary

Peevish Sentence Examples

  • It is better to be beggared out of hand by a scapegrace nephew, than daily hag-ridden by a peevish uncle.

  • Her affection tired very soon, however, and when she grew peevish, Hindley became tyrannical.

  • Member for North-East Hertfordshire experienced halfway through his speech, when he became peevish about proportional representation.

  • I think they must have been given to feeble remonstrance, getting more and more peevish as it became more and more ineffectual.

  • His chief defect was an over-sensitiveness, leading to peevish and unreasonable behaviour in his private and official relations, to hasty and unbalanced judgments of persons and things that had given him annoyance, and to a despondency and discouragement which frustrated the great good he might have effected as a philosophic critic of public affairs.

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Words Starting With

PPEPEE

Words Ending With

HSHISH

Unscrambles

peevish

Words Starting With P and Ending With H

Starts With P & Ends With HStarts With PE & Ends With HStarts With P & Ends With SH

Word Length

7 Letter Words7 Letter Words Starting With P7 Letter Words Ending With H